Voices from the bus sound off on joblessness

On a breezy May 8 morning, a school bus filled with activists left the Bail Out the People Movement office in Baltimore and headed for the Protest For a Jobs Program in Washington, D.C.

Malik Nance, Frank Neisser and Shyrese Brown. WW photo: Sean Schafron

The passengers included young adults and seniors, and were employed, unemployed and retired, male and female, and Black and white. While not all wished to be interviewed by Workers World, the one thing everyone had in common was the knowledge that something is terribly, fundamentally wrong with the appalling state of affairs in this country and the realization that something must be done.

Organizer Cheryl LaBash of Detroit BOPM said: “Fight For Jobs is a crucial, important struggle that intersects every problem that working people are facing. For example, if you don’t have a job you can’t pay your utility bills, so your utilities are shut off, and then you’re either evicted or the bank forecloses on your home. The problem we’re confronting is that while there is apparently some kind of recovery going on, it doesn’t include jobs for the unemployed.”

Boston organizer Frank Neisser, laid off from his job as a computer programmer and unable to find employment since, noted: “There needs to be worldwide worker solidarity. There is really no solution to unemployment in the system, so jobless workers need to take advantage of the time forced upon them to mobilize and fight back.”

Unemployed Boston BOPM activist Allan Brown, 30, said, “With 30 million jobless people, we really need to get the message out that there must be a jobs program right now, before this situation gets much worse.”

But it was Baltimore area residents who were, obviously, most in touch with the local crisis.

Shyrese Brown is a 21-year-old Black worker who has been unemployed for nine months. “I fill out applications and they never call, while I do call them. It’s very important to do this protest and to make it clear that we all need jobs, the youth too. The President and Congress must give us opportunities, because we have nothing to do and nowhere to turn.”

An older African-American resident, Helen Bell, while grappling with the intense problem of having to find a new place to live, was on the bus selflessly determined to demand the government provide full employment “rather than spend billions fighting wars that are unnecessary and cruel. The people in charge must hear us today and pay attention to our needs.”

Malik Nance, 21 and unemployed for three years, pointed out the devastating effects the crisis has had on Baltimore’s Black community. He added, “It’s not true that the government doesn’t have the money available for a jobs program like the WPA. Rather than build prisons, it’s time they stop taking us for granted and stop sending money everywhere it’s not needed. There’s plenty of money out there. They’re living in luxury while poor people are living on the streets.

“We’re all here to make our voices heard. The government needs to look into our hearts and respond to our call for a jobs program. That’s why I came and what we all hope to see accomplished today,” said Nance.

After the D.C. activities ended and the bus returned to Baltimore, everyone believed that they did, indeed, participate in an action that made a difference.